Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry: ‘To Protect our Citizens in America from Evil, You Have to Crush It’

To protect U.S. citizens from evil, “you have to crush it,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) said during a press conference on Thursday, providing updates on the terror investigation in New Orleans.

“Right now, in the city of New Orleans, there’s an unprecedented amount of law enforcement resources” to continue the investigation into the terrorist attack that took place on New Year’s Day, resulting in the loss of 14 innocent lives and injuries of more than two dozen more, he began.

“I want to thank the FBI and all of our federal partners for the amount of resources they have poured into the city. This type of event can happen, and that’s the tragedy, and I think it’s important for people to understand that to protect our citizens in America from evil, you have to crush it,” Landry continued.

“You can’t go out there and placate it. You can’t go out there and say, oh, I’m going to put this in place and that in place and hope that evil doesn’t show up on your doorstep, because it will,” the governor emphasized. “You have to crush it.”

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“And that’s what we’re going to do here. We’re going to put it all behind us. We’re going to continue to keep the victims, those in the hospital, either fighting for their lives and trying to recover in our thoughts and in our prayers,” he said before mentioning an interview he saw with a young man who was on Bourbon Street during the attack. Summarizing what the man said, Landry said that people cannot move forward living in fear.

“Look, we can’t live in fear” because “fear will paralyze us,” he said. “He said, we come down to the city to enjoy ourselves and to entertain ourselves and to be with our friends and with our families, because that’s who we are. Louisiana invented hospitality. The people in the city care for each other and, believe you me — we care about each one of the lives that were lost in the city. We will never forget.”

WATCH the full presser below:

The governor added that it would be a “tragedy” if people allowed the loss of these innocent lives to be “snuffed out because of fear.”

“This city will be back. We’ll be open to family and friends and loved ones who want some time to relax from the pressures of life,” he added, making it clear that they are going to continue to keep those who lost loved ones in their hearts and minds.